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47 Bible verses about caring for animals
Think about the Old Testament, how animal sacrifices were the norm. But even then, there are so many verses showing God pushing back against those sacrifices and calling for animal care. It really makes you think.
Proverbs 12:1010, for instance, says, "The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel." That's powerful. God's word includes advocating for animals. It's right there in the Bible.
If you really dig into the prophets, you'll find tons of verses urging care for animals. Hosea 8:1313 puts it plainly: "They offer sacrifices of animals and eat the meat, but the Lord is not pleased with them. Now he will remember their wickedness and punish their sins." It's a good reminder that true worship goes beyond rituals and involves how we treat all of God's creation.
God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good (suitable, admirable) and He approved it.
Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they?
And to all the animals on the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the ground–to everything in which there is the breath of life–I have given every green plant for food. And it was so.
God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth. [Ps. 104:30; Heb. 1:2; 11:3.]
And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creeping things, and [wild] beasts of the earth according to their kinds. And it was so.
And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth.
And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatted domestic animal together; and a little child shall lead them.
God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth. [Ps. 104:30; Heb. 1:2; 11:3.]So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. [Col. 3:9, 10; James 3:8, 9.]And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth.
A [consistently] righteous man regards the life of his beast, but even the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. [Deut. 25:4.]
And the fear of you and the dread and terror of you shall be upon every beast of the land, every bird of the air, all that creeps upon the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are delivered into your hand.And Noah began to cultivate the ground, and he planted a vineyard.And he drank of the wine and became drunk, and he was uncovered and lay naked in his tent.And Ham, the father of Canaan, glanced at and saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.So Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it upon the shoulders of both, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they did not see their father's nakedness.When Noah awoke from his wine, and knew the thing which his youngest son had done to him,He exclaimed, Cursed be Canaan! He shall be the servant of servants to his brethren! [Deut. 27:16.]He also said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem! And blessed by the Lord my God be Shem! And let Canaan be his servant.May God enlarge Japheth; and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.And Noah lived after the flood 350 years.All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and as I gave you the green vegetables and plants, I give you everything.
And the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and guard and keep it.
If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again.If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying [helpless] under his load, you shall refrain from leaving the man to cope with it alone; you shall help him to release the animal.
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy Mount [Zion], says the Lord.
You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain. [I Cor. 9:9, 10; I Tim. 5:17, 18.]
The hart, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.
But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, your domestic animals, or the sojourner within your gates.
Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, and look well to your herds;For riches are not forever; does a crown endure to all generations?When the hay is gone, the tender grass shows itself, and herbs of the mountain are gathered in,The lambs will be for your clothing, and the goats [will furnish you] the price of a field.And there will be goats' milk enough for your food, for the food of your household, and for the maintenance of your maids.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God, Your judgments are like the great deep. O Lord, You preserve man and beast.
The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works [the entirety of things created].
And of every living thing of all flesh [found on land], you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.
Six days you shall do your work, but the seventh day you shall rest and keep Sabbath, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your bondwoman, and the alien, may be refreshed.
YOU SHALL not see your brother's ox or his sheep being driven away or stolen, and hide yourself from [your duty to help] them; you shall surely take them back to your brother. [Prov. 24:12.]You shall not plow with an ox [a clean animal] and a donkey [unclean] together. [II Cor. 6:14-16.]You shall not wear a garment of mingled stuff, wool and linen together. [Ezek. 44:18; Rev. 19:8.]You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of your cloak with which you cover yourself. [Num. 15:37-40.]If any man takes a wife and goes in to her, and then scorns herAnd charges her with shameful things and gives her an evil reputation, and says, I took this woman, but when I came to her, I did not find in her the tokens of a virgin,Then the father of the young woman, and her mother, shall get and bring out the tokens of her virginity to the elders of the city at the gate.And her father shall say to the elders, I gave my daughter to this man as wife, but he hates and spurns her;And behold, he has made shameful charges against her, saying, I found not in your daughter the evidences of her virginity. And yet these are the tokens of my daughter's virginity. And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city,And the elders of that city shall take the man and rebuke and whip him.And they shall fine him 100 shekels of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought an evil name upon a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife; he may not divorce her all his days.And if your brother [the owner] is not near you or if you do not know who he is, you shall bring the animal to your house and it shall be with you until your brother comes looking for it; then you shall restore it to him.But if it is true that the evidences of virginity were not found in the young woman,Then they shall bring her to the door of her father's house and the men of her city shall stone her to death, because she has wrought [criminal] folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father's house. So you shall put away the evil from among you.If a man is found lying with another man's wife, they shall both die, the man who lay with the woman and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.If a maiden who is a virgin is engaged to be married, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her,Then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and shall stone them to death–the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he has violated his neighbor's [promised] wife. So shall you put away evil from among you.But if a man finds the betrothed maiden in the open country and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die.But you shall do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no sin punishable by death, for this is as when a man attacks and slays his neighbor,For he came upon her in the open country, and the betrothed girl cried out, but there was no one to save her.If a man finds a girl who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and lies with her and they are found,Then the man who lay with her shall give to the girl's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has violated her; he may not divorce her all his days.And so shall you do with his donkey or his garment or with anything which your brother has lost and you have found. You shall not hide from [your duty concerning] them.A man shall not take his father's former wife, nor shall he uncover her who belongs to his father.You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fall down by the way, and hide from [your duty concerning] them; you shall surely help him to lift them up again.
For that which befalls the sons of men befalls beasts; even [in the end] one thing befalls them both. As the one dies, so dies the other. Yes, they all have one breath and spirit, so that a man has no preeminence over a beast; for all is vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)!A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted, [Heb. 9:27.]All go to one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
If a bird's nest should chance to be before you in the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the mother bird is sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother bird with the young.You shall surely let the mother bird go, and take only the young, that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.
If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying [helpless] under his load, you shall refrain from leaving the man to cope with it alone; you shall help him to release the animal.
And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatted domestic animal together; and a little child shall lead them.And the cow and the bear shall feed side by side, their young shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.And the sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
And Noah built an altar to the Lord and took of every clean [four-footed] animal and of every clean fowl or bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills or upon the mountains where thousands are.I know and am acquainted with all the birds of the mountains, and the wild animals of the field are Mine and are with Me, in My mind.
He will feed His flock like a shepherd: He will gather the lambs in His arm, He will carry them in His bosom and will gently lead those that have their young.
The soul or life of the wicked craves and seeks evil; his neighbor finds no favor in his eyes. [James 2:16.]
Are not two little sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's leave (consent) and notice.
And He said to them, Which of you, having a son or a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a well, will not at once pull him out on the Sabbath day?
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And [yet] not one of them is forgotten or uncared for in the presence of God.But [even] the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be struck with fear or seized with alarm; you are of greater worth than many [flocks] of sparrows.
For [even the whole] creation (all nature) waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God's sons to be made known [waits for the revealing, the disclosing of their sonship].For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and of death.For the creation (nature) was subjected to frailty (to futility, condemned to frustration), not because of some intentional fault on its part, but by the will of Him Who so subjected it–[yet] with the hope [Eccl. 1:2.]That nature (creation) itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and corruption [and gain an entrance] into the glorious freedom of God's children.
And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons not [yet old enough to] know their right hand from their left, and also many cattle [not accountable for sin]?
O Lord, how many and varied are Your works! In wisdom have You made them all; the earth is full of Your riches and Your creatures.Yonder is the sea, great and wide, in which are swarms of innumerable creeping things, creatures both small and great.
And the Angel of the Lord said to him, Why have you struck your donkey these three times? See, I came out to stand against and resist you, for your behavior is willfully obstinate and contrary before Me.And the ass saw Me and turned from Me these three times. If she had not turned from Me, surely I would have slain you and saved her alive.
So then, as occasion and opportunity open up to us, let us do good [morally] to all people [not only being useful or profitable to them, but also doing what is for their spiritual good and advantage]. Be mindful to be a blessing, especially to those of the household of faith [those who belong to God's family with you, the believers].
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And [yet] not one of them is forgotten or uncared for in the presence of God.
That nature (creation) itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and corruption [and gain an entrance] into the glorious freedom of God's children.We know that the whole creation [of irrational creatures] has been moaning together in the pains of labor until now. [Jer. 12:4, 11.]
DO YOU know the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth [their young]? [Or] do you observe when the hinds are giving birth? [Do you attend to all this, Job?]Can you bind the wild ox with a harness to the plow in the furrow? Or will he harrow the furrows for you?Will you trust him because his strength is great, or to him will you leave your labor?Will you depend upon him to bring home your seed and gather the grain of your threshing floor? [Who, Job, was the author of this strange variance in the disposition of animals so alike in appearance? Was it you?]The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, [but] are they the pinions and plumage of love?The ostrich leaves her eggs on the ground and warms them in the dust,Forgetting that a foot may crush them or that the wild beast may trample them.She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers; her labor is in vain because she has no sense of danger [for her unborn brood],For God has deprived her of wisdom, neither has He imparted to her understanding.Yet when she lifts herself up in flight, [so swift is she that] she can laugh to scorn the horse and his rider.Have you given the horse his might? Have you clothed his neck with quivering and a shaking mane?Can you number the months that they carry their offspring? Or do you know the time when they are delivered,Was it you [Job] who made him to leap like a locust? The majesty of his [snorting] nostrils is terrible.He paws in the valley and exults in his strength; he goes out to meet the weapons [of armed men].He mocks at fear and is not dismayed or terrified; neither does he turn back [in battle] from the sword.The quiver rattles upon him, as do the glittering spear and the lance [of his rider].[He seems in running to] devour the ground with fierceness and rage; neither can he stand still at the sound of the [war] trumpet.As often as the trumpet sounds he says, Ha, ha! And he smells the battle from afar, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.Is it by your wisdom [Job] that the hawk soars and stretches her wings toward the south [as winter approaches]?Does the eagle mount up at your command and make his nest on [a] high [inaccessible place]?On the cliff he dwells and remains securely, upon the point of the rock and the stronghold.From there he spies out the prey; and his eyes see it afar off.When they bow themselves, bring forth their young ones, [and] cast out their pains?His young ones suck up blood, and where the slain are, there is he.Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open field; they go forth and return not to them.
You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet: [I Cor. 15:27; Eph. 1:22, 23; Heb. 2:6-8.]All sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field,The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatever passes along the paths of the seas.